WINNIPEG \u2014
Saskatchewan Roughriders placekicker Brett Lauther struggled so badly earlier this year that he publicly apologized to his teammates and fans.<\/p>\n
Lauther made only 39 of 54 field goal attempts this season \u2014 a league-low 72.3 per cent \u2014 and at one point rumours circulated that the Riders were trying to replace him.<\/p>\n
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But none of that was weighing on his mind as he prepared to face the Montreal Alouettes in the Grey Cup on Sunday. Lauther insists he’s focused only on his “next gig.”<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing in the past is going to help you with the next one. So, I\u2019m not worried if I had a bad game or if I miss one or I missed a bunch in a row,” the 35-year-old said Friday. \u201cI just keep moving on to the next gig when that game\u2019s done. I work on the corrections with my guys and the coaches. I just keep moving forward.<\/p>\n
“In any sport, especially pro sports, there\u2019s highs and lows and emotions in a game. You can\u2019t be too happy with a make and can\u2019t be too down with a miss. It\u2019s kind of unique to a lot of other positions. You only get so many shots to go out there and do your job. But, for me, it\u2019s just putting the blinders on and go on to our next gig.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Despite being hampered by a back issue, Lauther rebounded by converting all three of his field-goal attempts when Saskatchewan sunk the B.C. Lions 24-21 in the West Division final.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt just came down to repetition after repetition, sticking to what you know, trying not to overthink anything,\u201d said Saskatchewan long-snapper Jorgen Hus. \u201cI believe in Brett. He\u2019s going to go out there and do his job. He did his job in the West Final. He might be the greatest kicker to ever play for the Riders. He\u2019s had some big games, some big moments.<\/p>\n
“There\u2019s nothing but ice in his veins. So, I know he can do it. I believe in him, he\u2019s been great for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Lauther also feels the support of Roughriders head coach Corey Mace.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s the reason why I\u2019m still playing football,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve had a longer leash than a lot of people probably get and maybe even deserve. But that\u2019s why I get a chance to go out Sunday and maybe right a lot of wrongs that I\u2019ve had this season.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lauther has connected on 21 of 23 field goal attempts for a 91.2 percentage in the CFL playoffs and is 10-for-10 on converts.<\/p>\n
The Truro, N.S., native was asked if he envisioned kicking the winning field goal in the Grey Cup as a kid.<\/p>\n
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\u201cProbably in high school,\u201d he said. \u201cEverything before that, I was scoring in Game 7 in overtime, the winner.<\/p>\n
\u201cI switched a little bit since then. It\u2019s always been a dream but, at the end of the day, I don\u2019t care about kicking the game-winner, I just care about winning the game for the province, my brothers, the fans, my family. It\u2019s nothing to do with you at this point. It\u2019s for everyone else. It doesn\u2019t matter if it\u2019s a game-winner or if I miss every kick in the game, as long as we win the game. That\u2019s all I care about.\u201d<\/p>\n
Along with the importance of playing in the Grey Cup, Lauther added that his future in the sport is uncertain.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI don\u2019t even know if I\u2019ll be playing football next year,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m just focused on playing this game right now and trying to get a win.\u201d<\/p>\n
13TH MAN<\/p>\n
Of course, every time the Grey Cup comes around, clips resurface of former Roughriders offensive coordinator Paul LaPolice tossing his headphones in frustration after a 13th-man penalty negated a missed Montreal field goal in the final seconds of the 2009 championship game. The Alouettes made the winner on the next play.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThat doesn\u2019t bother me, it\u2019s just part of my history,\u201d said LaPolice, a former Winnipeg and Ottawa head coach who’s now an analyst for TSN and coaches the Canadian men’s national flag football team.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it\u2019s cool that the Grey Cup is in Winnipeg with the Riders being back because it brings back memories of me being there. It\u2019s a cool experience to be back on the Prairies where the majority of my career was built.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Riders have not brought up that 13th man debacle this week.<\/p>\n
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\u201cOur fans are the 13th man,\u201d Mace said.<\/p>\n
NOTE: Saskatchewan receivers KeeSean Johnson and Joe Robustelli have been ruled out of Sunday\u2019s game, according the CFL injury report.<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first reported on Nov. 14, 2025<\/p>\n
Jim Bender, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WINNIPEG \u2014 Saskatchewan Roughriders placekicker Brett Lauther struggled so badly earlier this year that he publicly apologized to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":284386,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[69896,49,48,521,522,520,129182,89321,941,4400,82,89319],"class_list":{"0":"post-284385","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cfl","8":"tag-brett-lauther","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-canadian-football-league","12":"tag-canadianfootballleague","13":"tag-cfl","14":"tag-jorgen-hus","15":"tag-keesean-johnson","16":"tag-montreal-alouettes","17":"tag-saskatchewan-roughriders","18":"tag-sports","19":"tag-the-riders"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=284385"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284385\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/284386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=284385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=284385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=284385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}